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Spotted In China: Saab 9-5 Aero Sedan

Published on May 18, 2016 by Joey Wang

A very speedy Saab 9-5 Aero sedan, Spotted in China in east Beijing. The good old Saab was in a very good shape, painted in gray with shiny chrome and darkened windows. The five-spoke alloys are original. The first generation 9-5 was manufactured from 1997 until 2009 with a facelift in 2001, this is a facelifted examle (pre-facelift here).

Classic lines still so beautiful today! Aero package included wider wheel arches, spoilers under the body, a shark fin antenna, and a wing on boot lid. The Aero was powered by a tuned variant of the 2.3 liter turbo, good for 250hp and 350nm.

The 9-5 was never officially sold in China, so seeing one is a rare pleasure. But! The 9-5 is really everywhere today, living on in the Beijing Auto Senova D70 and Senova D80.

General Motors sold the platforms of the 9-3 and 9-5 to Beijing Auto in 2009, and the deal included the Saab-developed 2.0 and 2.3 turbocharged engines. Chinese car buyers are well-aware of the connection, and Beijing Auto is proud of it.

The owner is clearly a fan of the brand, dressing up his car with badges and logo’s.

The interior was in good shape too, completely original with black leather seats and a dark gray dash. Scandinavian winters… Gearbox on this example is a five-speed automatic, a 5-speed manual was available as well.

Extra large exhaust pipes are after-market, and don’t look very good on this delicate Swedish behind.

It needs more badges. The Aero and 2.3T badges are original, the rest is rubbish, but nice rubbish.

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1 comment

You are wrong about the facelift, both here and in the article with the older 9-5. There was a minor facelift in 2001 and a major facelift in 2006. The version shown here is the version launched in 2006.